TENNISCANADA

2016 ANNUAL REPORT

WELCOME MESSAGE

Welcome to the 2016 Tennis Canada Annual Report. As your new chair, I would like to introduce myself and share with you some of my views on our year, our organization, and our outlook for the next few years. 2016 was another excellent year for Tennis Canada and more importantly for “Tennis in Canada”.

I have served on the Tennis Canada board since 2012, served as the chair of The Council of Provinces, as President of Tennis Newfoundland and Labrador, and President of Green Belt Tennis Club. I am a parent of a competitive junior and an avid player myself. This has allowed me the opportunity to observe tennis from many different points of view and hopefully to have gained a useful perspective on the special role our tennis federation plays. Tennis Canada is one of the most successful tennis federations in the world supporting tennis development across all ages and levels through its leadership and investments in local and national programs.

2016 was a year of significant change and of new energy in our organization. We welcomed four new directors, Penny Ballem, Jennifer Bishop, Stephen Mandel, and Sam Sebastian and thanked three outgoing directors. Kelly Murumets resigned as CEO at year-end and we recruited Michael Downey back starting in July 2017. We also established a new Events and Infrastructure Committee to look at how we run our major events and tournaments, and how we invest in our current and future infrastructure both internally and working closely with our provincial tennis association partners.

Tennis Canada is a complex not-for-profit organization that owns and operates some of the most successful tournaments in the tennis world, which in turn allows us to deliver our mission by working with our provincial tennis association partners, clubs, coaches, key stakeholders, and community leaders to grow and develop tennis at all levels across Canada. Managing both these activities requires a unique cross-section of skills and experience. We have a world-class team that continuously promotes, runs, and generates excellent returns from our two flagship tournaments (Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal and Toronto) and ongoing events, as well as a world-class team that is working with key partners to produce some historic results with some of the most exciting next generation players while also building new capacity and increasing participation and fan interest levels. That unique combination of business and development skills coupled with our very important and strong partnership with our provincial tennis associations is how we are and will continue growing and developing our sport in Canada.

Our vision to be “a world-leading tennis nation” includes running world-class tournaments, achieving best-in-class high-performance results by developing and supporting the most elite levels of our sport, and increasing frequent play and fan interest by building a strong base of players and fans across the country. I think as you read about our successes at the professional level, junior level, international senior level and at wheelchair tennis you will agree that our development team has done a great job in supporting and developing our athletes and sport for life tennis pathway. We also had some excellent results in our participation levels with tennis now ranked eighth in Canada and still growing. New facilities are being built and planned to provide Canadians with more places to play, with the new Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre in Calgary a great example of what can happen when passionate and skilled leaders take on major projects.

Michael Downey will be rejoining us in July of 2017 after spending nearly three years as the CEO of the British Lawn Tennis Association. Michael’s recent experiences include working with one of the world’s leading tennis federations at the highest level of the sport to build grassroots tennis, enhancing facilities and participation in the UK. I look forward to working with him and building upon the strong base we have already established. Building more facilities and making tennis more accessible to more people in more places will be one of our challenges. I feel our relationship with the provinces, clubs and communities across this country have never been stronger. Working together, and aligning our resources and strategies will be our collective key to success in building our sport and helping establish a strong culture of success for tennis in Canada.

Looking back on this past year, I think what struck me the most was the passion held by our team, provincial tennis association partners, clubs, community leaders, coaches, officials, volunteers and key partners, and our collective deep understanding of what our mission and values really are. I said in my opening that it was a good year for “Tennis in Canada” and that was a very important statement. I know from talking and working with this great team and all of our partners that they understand it is about just that: “Tennis in Canada”.

Derrick Rowe

Chair of the Board

2016 KEY MOMENTS
IN CANADIAN TENNIS

Three Canadians rank inside the Junior Top 10 on the world rankings to open the 2016 season.

Jan 10

Milos Raonic earns his eighth career ATP title in Brisbane, after besting Roger Federer in straight sets in the final.

Jan 11

Daniel Nestor becomes the first player in the Open Era to reach 1,000 doubles wins after his Sydney first-round win with Marcelo Melo. He joins Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, and John McEnroe as the only men’s players to accomplish the feat.

Jan 14

Bianca Andreescu and Felix Auger-Aliassime are named Tennis Canada Junior Players of the Year after their tremendous achievements in 2015.

Jan 14

Eugenie Bouchard defeats Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova to reach the final in Hobart.

Jan 27

Milos Raonic advances to the Australian Open semifinals by winning his first nine matches of the year. Ousting Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils along the way, Raonic becomes first Canadian man to reach the final four in Melbourne before losing to Andy Murray.

Jan 28

Paralympian Joel Dembe is named Tennis Canada Ambassador for the 2016 year.

Jan 30

Daniel Nestor reaches his 17th major final at the Australian Open with Radek Stepanek, becoming the oldest team in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam men’s double final

In Guadeloupe, the Canadian Davis Cup team falls to France 5-0 in the World Group first round.

Mar 7

Eugenie Bouchard reaches the final in Kuala Lumpur without dropping a set, and falls to Elina Svitolina after a rain-interrupted match.

Mar 9

Tennis Canada and the Canadian tennis family as a whole loses an incredible teammate, coach, and person with the passing of Bruno Agostinelli Jr. at the age of 28 in Toronto.

Mar 17

For the first time since 1993, four Canadians (Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky, Philip Bester, and Denis Shapovalov) appear in the quarter-finals of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Drummondville.

Mar 18

Denis Shapovalov advances past Argentina’s Renzo Olivo to reach the semifinals of the Drummondville National Bank Challenger. The win sees Shapovalov become the first 16-year-old since Stefan Kozlov in 2014 at Sacramento to reach the semifinals of a Challenger tournament.

Mar 19

Milos Raonic survives Belgian David Goffin in in the Indian Wells semifinals to extend his run. In his third career Masters 1000 final, Raonic falls to Novak Djokovic in the championship match.

Mar 20

Vasek Pospisil and partner Jack Sock cap off their impressive campaign in Indian Wells as runners-up. The Canadian-American pair fell to Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the men’s double final.

Mar 20

Francoise Abanda clinches the $25,000 title in Irapuato, Mexico for her first pro title of the season and second of her career.

Jaden Weekes and Annabelle Xu of Quebec become the new U12 junior national champions after capturing their titles in Calgary.

Apr 5

Charlotte Robillard-Millette qualifies for the ITF Junior Masters, a tournament that features the Top 8 boys and girls based on the 2015 year-end rankings. Robillard-Millette reached a career-high of No. 4 in last year’s breakthrough season.

Apr 9

At the Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals in Vancouver, Joshua Lapadat and Jada Bui Ontario become the new U14 national champions.

Apr 9

British Columbia’s Sasha Vagramov and Christian Lakoseljac of Ontario become first-time winners at the U18 Rogers Indoor Junior National Championships in Markham, Ontario.

Apr 10

After falling in the ITF Junior Masters semifinals to good friend Katie Swan of Great Britain, Charlotte Robillard-Millette defeats American Kayla Day to finish third in China.

Apr 11

Denis Shapovalov triumphs over American Tennys Sandgren and is crowned champion at the $25,000 Memphis Futures in Tennessee for his second pro title.

Apr 17

Canada’s Fed Cup team falls 3-2 to a Dominika Cibulkova-led Slovakian squad in Bratislava. Francoise Abanda produces two wins in the third singles match and doubles rubber, but Slovakia powers through to send Canada back to Americas Zone Group I for 2017.

Apr 24

Denis Shapovalov sweeps the singles and doubles championships at the Orange Park Futures in Florida, and raises his professional singles title count to three.

Apr 24

Benjamin Sigouin reaches the singles final and captures the doubles championship at the ITF Grade 1 junior event in Beaulieu Sur Mer, France.

Apr 26

Canadian Christian Gingras is named Wheelchair Tennis Coach of the Year for 2015 by the International Tennis Federation. Gingras coached Philippe Bedard and Joel Dembe to a Parapan Am bronze medal, and has been involved with Tennis Canada`s wheelchair tennis program for a decade.

Peter Polansky snaps a three-year drought and wins his first pro title since 2013 at the $10,000 ITF Futures in Tampa Bay, Florida. The trophy is the 14th of Polansky’s career.

May 8

Felix Auger-Aliassime advances to his first professional final at a $10,000 Futures event in Lleida, Spain at the age of 15.

May 11

Eugenie Bouchard tops world No. 2 and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the second round in Rome. The victory marks Bouchard`s first win against a Top 10 player since 2014.

May 14

Vasek Pospisil reaches his second final of the season with American Jack Sock after triumphing over Indian-Romanian pairing Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea in the Rome semifinals.

May 25

Carol Zhao leads her Stanford Cardinal teammates to the NCAA Division I National Championship title with a win over Oklahoma State and she is also the first Canadian since 1998 to reach the singles final of the NCAA.

May 25

Canada’s quad team at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup clinch direct entry for 2017 event with a sixth-place finish in Tokyo.

May 25

Milos Raonic posts his 50th career win at a Grand Slam with his second round win over Adrian Mannarino of France at Roland Garros

May 28

Benjamin Sigouin becomes singles champion and doubles runner-up at the Belgian International Junior Championship, a Grade 1 event in Charleroi-Marcinelle. The Canadian team of Alexis Galarneau and Jack Mingjie Lin lift the doubles trophy.

For the first time, three Canadians advance to the quarter-final round of a Grand Slam in the junior singles event. Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Benjamin each reach the final eight of the Junior French Open.

Jun 5

Felix Auger-Aliassime reaches the Junior French Open final, where he just misses out on holding the trophy in a tight “heartbreaking” loss.

Jun 18

Milos Raonic defeats Australia’s Bernard Tomic to set up a rendezvous with Andy Murray in the Queen’s Club final. Murray triumphs in a three-set thriller.

Jun 19

Gabriela Dabrowski hoists her third career WTA doubles trophy at the inaugural Mallorca Open with Spanish partner Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Jun 23

Four new members are elected to the Tennis Canada Board of Directors: Dr. Penny Ballem, Jennifer Bishop, Stephen Mandel, and Sam Sebastian join nine incumbent members of the Board.

Jun 25

Daniel Nestor teams up with Dominic Inglot to win his 89th career title at Nottingham, and extend his streak to 23 consecutive years with an ATP World Tour title.

Jun 27

Peter Polansky wins both the singles and doubles titles at the Richmond Futures to complete the sweep in British Columbia.

Jun 30

Five Canadians bring home bronze medals from the ITF Seniors World Individual Championships. James Cameron and Keith Porter finished third in the men’s over-60 doubles event, Marc Pepin and Frank Sabetti also captured third place in the men’s over-55 doubles, and Erin Boynton combined with Australian partner Wanda Howes for bronze in women’s over-55 doubles.

Milos Raonic defeats Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals to become the first Canadian man to make a Grand Slam singles final. Raonic once again meets Murray, who goes on to win in three sets.

Jul 10

Denis Shapovalov beats Australia’s Alex De Minaur to win the Junior Wimbledon title and becomes the third Canadian to capture a junior Grand Slam singles title. He also finishes as runner-up with Felix Auger-Aliassime in the boys doubles final.

Jul 11

Denis Shapovalov’s junior world ranking skyrockets to No. 2 following his victory at the All-England Club.

Jul 11

Philip Bester defeats Peter Polansky for the $25,000 Saskatoon Futures singles title after winning the doubles event with Polansky days before.

Jul 16

Erin Routliffe reaches her first professional final at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger, while Charlotte Robillard-Millette and Marie-Alexandre Leduc represent Canada in the doubles final.

Jul 24

Daniel Nestor captures the Washington Open title with Edouard Roger-Vasselin, one week after reaching the doubles final in Hamburg.

Jul 25

Denis Shapovalov upsets world No. 19 Nick Kyrgios in front of an electric Centre Court crowd in the first round of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto. The win is Shapovalov’s first ATP World Tour main draw victory.

Jul 26

Canadian wild card team of Philip Bester and Adil Shamasdin knock out Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic in the first round of doubles at Rogers Cup.

Jul 31

Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep capture the 2016 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank titles in Toronto and Montreal. The win marks Djokovic’s fourth Rogers Cup title and the first for Halep.

York University captures the women’s title at the National University Championships with a tough fixture over the Université de Montréal Carabins, while University of Alberta become the men’s national university champions after defeating University of Toronto.

Aug 5

Daniel Nestor, Vasek Pospisil, Eugenie Bouchard, and Gabriela Dabrowski represent Canada at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The doubles team of Nestor and Pospisil go on to produce a fourth-place finish, just missing out on a medal.

Aug 12

Frank Dancevic, Denis Shapovalov, Filip Peliwo, and Peter Polansky all reach the men’s quarter-final rounds at the Gatineau National Bank Challenger, while Bianca Andreescu advances to the final eight of the women’s draw.

Aug 14

Bianca Andreescu captures her maiden title on the ITF Pro Circuit with a singles win at the $25,000 Gatineau Challenger, and clinches the doubles crown with fellow Canadian Charlotte Robillard-Millette.

Aug 26

In Gatineau, Que., Taha Baadi wins the boys’ U16 title and Natasha Sengphrachanh emerges victorious from the girls’ division at the Rogers Outdoor Junior Nationals.

Aug 28

Layne Sleeth and Nicaise Muamba are crowned girls’ and boys’ champs at the U18 Rogers Outdoor Junior National Championships in Mississauga, Ont.

Aug 29

Top seeds Jaden Weekes and Annabelle Xu each capture titles at the U12 outdoor national championships in Mont-Tremblant, Que.

At the U14 Rogers Outdoor Junior National Championships, Jovan Sihota takes the crown in the boys’ division, while Daria Tomashevskaya is the girls’ champion.

Sep 9

Philippe Bedard competes in his second Paralympic Games at Rio 2016, where he falls in the first round.

Sep 11

Felix Auger-Aliassime captures the Junior US Open championship with a straight-set victory over the world’s top-ranked junior, Stefan Tsitsipas, in the final. His victory makes it two straight Slams with a Canadian winner. In doubles, Auger-Aliassime and Benjamin Sigouin finish as runners-up in New York. At the same tournament, Bianca Andreescu reaches the girls singles semifinals for her best Slam result so far.

Sep 17

Benjamin Sigouin secures his first professional match win on the ITF Pro Circuit before advancing to the singles semifinals and doubles final at the $25,000 Tevlin Men’s Futures in Toronto.

Sep 18

Vasek Pospisil leads the team and Denis Shapovalov picks up a win in his Davis Cup debut as Canada ousts Chile 5-0 in the Davis Cup World Group play-offs in Halifax.

Sep 20

Canada’s Doris Hart Cup team (women’s over-80) captures the bronze medal at the ITF Super Seniors World Team Championships in Umag, Croatia. The team is comprised of Muffie Grieve, Inge Weber, and Evelyn Hustwit.

Sep 25

Kenneth Dahl, Inge Weber, Rosie Asch, and Lorne Main each bring home gold medals from the ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships in Umag, Croatia. Dahl clinches gold in the men’s over-70 singles, Weber in the women’s over-80 event, and Asch in the women’s over-85 draw.

Canada claims a medal at the Junior Davis Cup for a second straight year, winning silver a year after claiming the championship. In Junior Fed Cup action, the Canadian squad posts a fifth-place finish.

Oct 9

Francoise Abanda adds a third pro title to her collection, as she wins the $25,000 Redding Challenger in California.

Oct 22

Bianca Andreescu makes the final in both singles and doubles of the $50,000 National Bank Challenger in Saguenay.

Oct 23

Daniel Nestor caps off the season with his 91st ATP World Tour title in Antwerp with Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Oct 30

At the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Vancouver, Philippe Bedard, Yuka Chokyu, and Rob Shaw take home national titles in the men’s, women’s, and quad divisions.

To become a world-leading tennis nation.

Values

First Serve – Grassroots (Community and Kids Tennis)

21 new Team Tennis Programs were implemented by the BTCs (Building Tennis Communities)

230 Canadian student-athletes competed on teams for the 2015-16 season in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association)

26 Canadian universities competed for the University National Championships

There are always challenges when it comes to growing a sport in a country as expansive as Canada. However, starting the process by nurturing the game in local communities, schools and parks across the country has seen tennis participation and interest levels consistently rise over the past several years.

The growth of the game begins at the grassroots level, and the many partners of Tennis Canada ensure tennis programs are delivered to children of all backgrounds. Building Tennis Communities, Boys and Girls Club of Canada, and our provincial partners have been instrumental in increasing the profile of tennis in Canada from coast-to-coast.

Building Tennis Communities is a prime example, and it continued to provide accessible and affordable programming to communities in 2016. Since familiarizing more than 14,000 kids under the age of 12 with tennis last year, the scope of the BTCs has since tripled. There are now 30 Team Tennis Programs being run through BTCs, up from the nine the year prior.

The reach of Boys and Girls Club of Canada has also increased significantly. Coaches and volunteers trained by Tennis Canada have implemented tennis in 22 Boys and Girls Clubs across Ontario and Quebec. In these programs, league play and donated equipment is introduced into the lives of children from underserved communities.

The continued work with our provincial partners to focus on increasing the number of frequent players in Canada has produced impressive results. In 2016, a special emphasis was put on players 12 years old and under. This resulted in 160,902 U12 frequent players, up by over 10,000 compared to 2015 (as per a 2016 study done by Charlton Insights).

Team Tennis and Rogers Rookie Tour are two more initiatives that are important to growing the game at the community level. Through Team Tennis, access to a team and league setting for children in Canada has doubled since 2015. This year, more than 5,500 participants competed on teams against those of a similar skill level.

The Rogers Rookie Tour, created to help children transition from entry-level tennis to competing on the provincial junior circuit, saw over 200 events held in 2016 with over 5,000 participating kids.

One of the many products of these developmental initiatives in communities across Canada has been an increased number of young adults choosing to maintain their involvement in tennis at the post-secondary level.

In Canada, 26 universities competed through the year for the right to compete at the 2016 University National Championships. Held during Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal, University of Alberta claimed the men’s title and York University repeated as champions on the women’s side. Also in 2016, 230 Canadians competed at the NCAA level in the United States.

New membership record of 3,300 coaches hit for Tennis Professionals Association (TPA)

75% of officials at the Coupe Rogers and Rogers Cup events were Canadian

New Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre, with 13 courts, opened in Calgary

Over the past several years, Tennis Canada has seen a tremendous increase in both the number of junior players participating in competitive tournaments as well as an increase in the number of competitive tournaments offered across the country.

In fact, data gathered from the various integrated systems across our sport indicates the number of junior players meeting the long-term athlete development (LTAD) guidelines is at its highest with 1,136 players doing so in 2016.

To meet the rising demand, Tennis Canada and the PTAs continued their efforts to grow the competitive structure in 2016. Approximately 450 competitive tournaments for Canadian juniors (U12 to U18) were held throughout the year. Canada also hosted more than 150 tournaments for our U10 competitors, and over 100 open events.

Tennis Canada has also developed a new calendar which is housed on its website. This calendar has been developed keeping in mind all stakeholders like parents, players, coaches, and fans. The program features an increased scope, as it is dynamically linked to the VR database. This allows the calendar to pull in all the tournaments that are run across Canada (either by the PTAs or Tennis Canada). Users also have the ability to apply the calendar’s powerful filter options for customized search results.

A main priority as the sport continues to develop on the grassroots level is ensuring the growth of high quality coaching continues to rise as well. Throughout the 2016 calendar year, over 400 people attended certification courses in the Instructor and Club Pro stream – the Instructor, Club Pro 1 and 2 levels – while over 60 coaches attended certification courses in the competitive stream (Coach 2 and 3).

It was also another successful year for the Tennis Professionals Association (TPA). The organization achieved a record 3,300 members in 2016, as the TPA continues to be a top resource for coaches across Canada. Over 60 year-round facilities employ fully-certified active staff. The TPA also announced a new partnership with Sports Camps Canada and Nike Tennis Camps. Another highlight of 2016 was the annual TPA conference, led in 2016 by special guest Nathalie Tauziat. The seminar was attended by over 200 coaches.

In 2016, three Canadian officials were certified by the International Tennis Federation (two chair umpires and one referee), raising the total number of Canadian officials with ATP/WTA/ITF certifications to 28.

Over the course of the year, Tennis Canada provided staffing for the two Rogers Cup events in Toronto and Montreal, as well as approximately 80 other national, international and professional events. This figure doesn’t take into account the many tournaments at the provincial level where Canadian officials also worked.

A strong Canadian officiating presence at ATP and WTA-level events across the world continues to be a point of pride for Tennis Canada. Notably, at Rio 2016, two Canadian officials were sent to the Olympic Games, and one to the Paralympics.

The past year was also a major one for facility development across Canada. Calgary became the first strategic market to open a new 13-court tennis centre, boasting eight indoor hard courts, five outdoor courts, fitness facilities and food services. The funding partners included the Province of Alberta, City of Calgary, Tennis Canada and countless significant donors that saw the value of this state-of-the-art tennis centre. Under the leadership of former Tennis Canada board member and Canadian Senator, Ron Ghitter, the new Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre opened in June 2016.

Halifax Regional Municipality also agreed to support a new Nova Scotia Regional Tennis Development Centre. Tennis Canada is working closely with the city, province, federal government and private donors to realize the vision in Halifax.

As progress continues in establishing regional tennis development centres across Canada, many meetings have also been held between Tennis Canada and project proponents in the Greater Vancouver Area. All groups involved continue to work toward the vision of establishing a Western National Training Centre in British Columbia.

During parts of the year when Aviva Centre in Toronto and Montreal’s Uniprix Stadium were not hosting tennis events, both facilities ran a number of unique ancillary events to provide additional revenue. Several gala events were held by Uniprix Stadium, including the Grands Ballet, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Ubisoft Annual Assembly and L’Oreal Professionel’s Colour Trophy Gala.

At Aviva Centre, the partnership with York University continues to flourish, and includes hosting their exams and convocation, plus its annual Multicultural Day and Yorkfest Concert. 2016 also included the successful hosting of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s AGM.

Tennis Matters partner Peter Jensen launched a campaign that has already raised over $45,000 to grow university tennis across the country

Tennis Canada and National Bank inked a renewal deal through 2022

Tennis Canada would not be able to work towards its goal of being a world-leading tennis nation without the support of its partners, including sponsors, donors, and the provincial tennis associations. In 2016, these partnerships continued to grow and evolve.

Tennis Matters

Tennis Matters, the fundraising arm of Tennis Canada, experienced sustained growth in 2016, with more than 3,400 people donating a total of over $2.5 million through different channels. Among those were the annual giving campaign, fundraising events, silent auctions and major gifts. This translates to a 13 per cent increase in the number of donors who supported tennis throughout the nation compared to 2015. An impressive 40 per cent of contributions came from new major gifts, confirming the passion and dedication of Canadian tennis fans.

Once again this year, Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, Lambton Golf and Country Club, and Donalda Club held fundraising events benefitting Tennis Canada. Our sincere thanks go out to all those involved in making these fundraisers a success. A special acknowledgement is owed to Ryan Fischer and his second edition of Ryan’s Ride for Kids. This year he raised $15,000 for Kids Tennis by pledging a 2,120 km bicycle ride from Toronto, Ont. to Souris, P.E.I.

Thank you is also due to Peter Jensen and Laura McCain for their passionate dedication to growing university tennis across Canada. Both Jensen and McCain, as well as Daniel Nestor and Cameron Cross, graciously hosted a number of events in 2016 to raise funds for this important initiative.

In 2016, Gerry Goldberg joined the Lifetime Legends category as a donor whose passion and commitment for tennis has resulted in total lifetime contributions exceeding $100,000. Also contributing to a banner year for Tennis Matters was Porsche Canada, who was welcomed on as ambassadors of Kids Tennis, Sébastien LeBlanc, who delivered a long-term pledge to support junior tennis development, and finally, the generous gift received from Cote 100.

In addition to the gracious response to our initiatives from the above, Tennis Canada would like to gratefully acknowledge all the donors who generously contributed between January 1 and December 31, 2016. For the complete donor listing, please click here.

Corporate Partnerships

This year Tennis Canada continued to make moves with major partners, including renewing our sponsorship with presenting sponsor National Bank through to 2022. The six-year deal includes the naming rights of Toronto’s Grandstand stadium, as well as title rights to four 2017 Challenger events (Drummondville, Winnipeg, Gatineau, Saguenay) and a new Challenger tournament in Calgary in 2018. Other terms of the deal also includes the renewal of the Littles Aces program, as well as the fan favourite Serve for a Million promotion during Rogers Cup.

In addition to the extension with National Bank, Corporate Partnerships had its highest revenue ever in 2016. This is due in part to strong relationships with our partners, who are continually striving to create innovative installations and attractions at Tennis Canada events. At this year’s Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, Rogers launched its Fan Hub, an interactive zone featuring hologram figures of Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic for fans to engage with, a comfortable seating area on the second level patio, as well as the the latest tech devices available through Rogers for guests to experience firsthand.

Among the many new partnerships Tennis Canada welcomed in 2016, two new significant deals were formed with Fila and Perrier. The relationship with Fila allowed for a consistent look and feel to be adopted across all Tennis Canada national teams, from the under-12 level right through to seniors tennis, as well as at Rogers Cup. With the introduction of Perrier, the fan experience at Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal was elevated with a premium sparkling water offered on-site.

Provincial Tennis Associations

Our provincial tennis associations are a critical partner to growing the sport across the country, and in 2016 Tennis Canada and the PTAs continued to align our priorities with a focus on developing under-12 tennis.

A major program development phase in Kids Tennis began this year, as Tennis Canada aims to create new and engaging programs to appeal to youth. Working closely together with the PTAs, a canvas was created for a National Participation Program designed to reach tens of thousands of youth across the country. 2017 will be an exciting one as a pilot is run in at least three Canadian markets and funding partners for this new program are sought out.

Drop Shot – WHEELCHAIR AND SENIORS TENNIS

Canada captured the most gold medals of any country in singles at the ITF Super Seniors World Championships

With the eyes of the world upon Rio this year, Canada was well represented in Brazil as Parapan Am Games bronze medalist and Canadian No. 1 men’s player Philippe Bedard proudly played for Canada at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Despite struggling through injury and illness in the year leading up to the Games, Montreal’s Bedard persevered to qualify for this hallmark event as the lone Canadian in the draw.

Nearly halfway across the world, the Canadian quad team completed its defence of last year’s sixth-place finish at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Tokyo, Japan. The result guarantees direct entry into the 2017 competition in Alghero, Italy.

A new crop of Canadian juniors performed exceptionally well in 2016, with Thomas Venos (BC) and Tomas Bourassa (BC) as well as Puisand Lai (ON) making significant progress in the ITF junior rankings. Hopefuls to represent Canada on the international stage in the coming years, their future is bright. Bourassa also made waves at the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, making the men’s singles final.

Also this year, Tennis Canada launched two new wheelchair tennis programs in Calgary and Sudbury, Ont. with the goal of introducing new players to the sport. In addition, the ranks of wheelchair tennis instructors in Canada grew in 2016 with 30 coaches becoming certified.

On the tournament side, the Niagara Open was successfully launched in Welland, Ont. while the Birmingham Classic in Mississauga, Ont. was upgraded to an ITF 1 Series event. The upgrade helped attract numerous Top 10 players from around the globe, including double Paralympic gold medalist Shingo Kunieda of Japan.

Proving once again that tennis is a sport for life, an impressive Canadian contingent conquered the field at the ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships in Umag, Croatia. Canada collected the most gold medals in singles events of any country in the competition.

Inge Weber won the women’s over-80 singles draw, dominating her opponents along the way by not losing more than three games in any one set. Rosie Asch continued her winning ways, taking home the women’s over-85 singles title for the second consecutive year. And on the men’s side, No. 16-seeded Ken Dahl captured his first world championship by prevailing for the men’s over-70 crown.

Canada’s senior teams also won numerous doubles medals, highlighted by the gold won by the legendary Lorne Main and his French partner Henri Crutchet in the men’s over-85 doubles event. The best result from the world team championships came from Canada’s women’s over-80 Doris Hart team who won a bronze medal in Croatia. The team consisted of Weber, Muffie Grieve and Evelyn Hustwit.

Sadly, Tennis Canada lost a member of its family when Steve Stevens passed away in January 2016. Stevens was a major force in the development and growth of seniors tennis in Canada over the past three decades. His legacy now lives on through the seniors national championships, which bear his name, and the tremendous lasting impact he had on the sport.

The Steve Stevens Senior National Championships were a huge success this year, held in Ottawa for the first time in 24 years. The tournament saw just under 500 players compete at five tennis clubs across the city. The Ottawa Tennis and Lawn Bowling Club, Rideau Tennis Club, Tennis Centre West Ottawa, Ottawa New Edinburgh, and Elmdale Tennis Club all did a tremendous job of hosting the players in August. The tournament was capped off with a banquet held at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

Volley – The Tournaments

Rogers Cup presented by National Bank continues to bring the tennis world to Canada on an annual basis, helping to promote and grow the sport throughout Canada. With a goal of improving every single year, both events in Toronto and Montreal enjoyed great success both on and off the court in 2016, solidifying their place as one of the best tennis tournaments in the world.

Both cities kicked off 2016 with two-day events in the downtown core, held the week prior to the tournaments. In Toronto, a tennis court took over Nathan Philipps Square and featured programming all-day long such as wheelchair tennis, the chance to be a ball kid, and target games, allowing bystanders to pick up a racquet. Marin Cilic popped by the first day and did some ball crew drills, while the marquee event was an appearance by Milos Raonic and Toronto mayor John Tory on the second day. Mayor Tory tried to return the Canadian star’s fierce serve, and the pair had a friendly hit.

In Montreal, the first day featured a skills competition on the tennis court installed at Ste. Catherine and McGill College Avenue with Olympians Bruny Surin and Joanie Rochette and football players Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Étienne Boulay. The highlight of day two was a visit from Eugenie Bouchard, who played a friendly doubles match with Minister Dominique Anglade, Éric Bruneau and Jean-René Dufort. Fans came out in large numbers for the chance to ask Bouchard questions during her live Q&A.

New interactive elements were added to the app for 2016 as well, most notably the $1,000,000 Bracket Challenge. Fans were able to fill out their brackets for both tournaments on the Rogers Cup app, with a perfect draw paying out a big million dollars. While nobody did win the million, two grand-prize winners will be receiving trips to Rogers Cup in 2017. Two other additions were the Fila Streak Challenge, in which fans made predictions each day and tried to get the longest streak of correct answers, and the Fan Challenge, which encouraged fans to explore the grounds and visit different checkpoints for the chance to win prizes.

Montreal

Rogers Cup in Montreal got off to a strong start with two major appearances leading into the first weekend. The official draw was held at Uniprix Stadium with world No. 5 and 2014 Rogers Cup champion Agnieszka Radwanska in attendance, while the Mini Rogers Cup finals at Olympic Park were launched by Simona Halep and Canadian junior star Bianca Andreescu.

Athletes from other sports took part in the tournament as well, with a ball hockey game and soccer game taking place early in the week. Hockey stars included Alex Burrows, Tomas Plekanec, and Kim St-Pierre while Andrea Petkovic, Sara Errani and other WTA stars took on many Montreal Impact players in the soccer contest.

Eric Bruneau, a very popular actor and comedian in Quebec, acted as tournament spokesperson and spoke of his passion for tennis. Coupe Rogers also continued giving back to the local community by donating 15 cents per ticket sold to the food bank in Villeray-Parc extension district for a total of $31,000.

A year after finishing runner-up in Toronto, No. 5 seed Simona Halep captured her first Rogers Cup trophy, defeating rising star Madison Keys in an exciting final. On the team front, Halep almost made it two titles in one day but she and fellow Romanian Monica Niculescu were outdueled by Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. The Russians would go on to win gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games just a couple weeks later.

Toronto

Starting off the tournament with a home run, the official draw in Toronto was held at Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Two-time Slam champion Stan Wawrinka was in attendance at the draw and met Blue Jays player Devon Travis down on the field while tennis continued to connect with baseball a couple hours later as Vasek Pospisil threw out the first pitch at the evening’s game.

Pizzaville Free Community Weekend was another success as families enjoyed world-class tennis and fun activities throughout the grounds. This year also saw the best Sportsnet Ball Hockey Challenge yet as NHL superstars Connor McDavid and Tyler Seguin confirmed their participation early. This helped secure world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to join in on the fun, and among the others who had a blast picking up a hockey stick were Canadian teenaged trio Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, and Benjamin Sigouin.

New to the site this year was the presence of Cirque du Soleil, which helped enhance the on-site experience for all guests. World-renowned for their acrobatic storytelling, Cirque performers both roamed the Aviva Centre grounds and put on thrilling shows between matches on Centre Court.

Djokovic took home the title for his fourth Rogers Cup crown – 2007, 2011, 2012, and now 2016. Ousting Kei Nishikori in straight sets, Djokovic moved into second place behind Ivan Lendl’s six for most Rogers Cup titles. In doubles, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo came out on top over No. 2 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

Canadian Events

In addition to Rogers Cup, Canada hosts numerous other professional, senior, wheelchair, and junior events each year which are all vital components to a healthy competitive schedule. Click here to access the complete list of champions for each of those tournaments.

ACE – THE NEXT GENERATION

Key Highlights:

Canadians won two Grand Slam titles with Denis Shapovalov taking home Junior Wimbledon and Felix Auger-Aliassime claiming the Junior US Open

Tennis Canada prepared to add a fourth national junior training program in Calgary

Five juniors ranked inside the Top 10 throughout the year

While Milos Raonic continued to make Canadian history on the professional circuit in 2016 – becoming the first Canadian man to make a Grand Slam singles final and reaching a new career-high ranking of world No. 3 – the country’s juniors created many historic moments of their own to show the next generation isn’t far away.

At the end of the 2016 season, Canadian juniors had two Grand Slam titles, three runner-up finishes, and two semifinal results to their names. This doesn’t include the immense success they enjoyed in other top-tier junior events and on the pro circuit as well. Among the many highlights are:

Denis Shapovalov won his first three pro titles at Futures events in the United States, finishing the year at No. 250 on the ATP World Tour rankings

Shapovalov also became just the third Canadian to ever win a junior Slam singles title by capturing Junior Wimbledon in July

In addition, Shapovalov captured his first ATP World Tour main draw match victory with an upset over No. 19 Nick Kyrgios in the first round of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto

Felix Auger-Aliassime clinched his first pro crown at a $10K Futures in Birmingham, Alabama in November

After making the Junior Roland Garros final in June, Auger-Aliassime recovered to capture the Junior US Open trophy three months later

Both Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime hit highs of junior world No. 2

At Roland Garros, three Canadians reached the quarter-finals or better, with Benjamin Sigouin making his first Slam round of eight, Shapovalov making the semifinals, and Auger-Aliassime the final

Sigouin captured the Astrid Bowl in Belgium, an ITF Grade 1 tournament and also was a finalist at two other Grade 1 events in France and the Eddie Herr Championships in Florida

Sigouin finished the year ranked world No. 9 in juniors

In doubles, all-Canadian teams finished runner-up at both Wimbledon and the US Open: Auger-Aliassime featured in both finals, with Shapovalov joining him at Wimbledon and Sigouin at the US Open

Bianca Andreescu reached a career-high junior ranking of world No. 3 early in the year

After missing almost half the season due to injury, Andreescu returned to capture her first pro title at the $25K Gatineau Challenger in August. A few months later, she also made the $50K Saguenay Challenger final to end the year ranked inside the Top 300

Andreescu also reached the semifinals at the Junior US Open, her best Slam result to date

Charlotte Robillard-Millette won bronze at the ITF Junior Masters in China, a tournament for the Top 8 players from 2015

An impressive list of accomplishments, this success has only further placed Canada on the map as a growing tennis nation on its way to becoming world-leading. And with players like Auger-Aliassime (age 16), Andreescu (age 16), and Shapovalov (age 17) already inspiring those younger than them, the future looks to remain bright for many years to come.

As Tennis Canada gets set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its National Training Centre in 2017, it is also preparing to expand its system that has already helped develop so many champions. A fourth national junior training program will open in Calgary to help develop the top juniors in Alberta and the Prairies. An extensive search in 2016 saw Alan Mackin, a former pro player who competed in three Davis Cup ties for Great Britain, hired to lead the Calgary program which will be housed in the new indoor Alberta Tennis Centre. With extensive experience developing high performance players, Mackin is familiar with the Canadian tennis scene, having been working as the Executive Director for Tennis Newfoundland before joining Tennis Canada.

With the National Training Centre and now four national junior training programs in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, the best young players from around the country are receiving the best possible training and support. And with a strong crop of young athletes thoroughly dedicated to the sport and working as hard as they can to improve, high performance development is certainly in a positive position right now across the nation.

OFFICIATING

GEORGE RUSTSCHEFF EXCELLENCE AWARD: ANNE BEES (BC)
ON-COURT OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR AWARD: MUSTAPHA JAMAL (ON)
ERICA GILBERT OFF-COURT OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR AWARD: JOEL BROBECKER (BC)
ROOKIE OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR AWARD: SAMUEL UNRAU (MB)